I do not own any of the characters or the Hobbit (just the AU storyline and my OC) those are the work of the esteemed and brilliant John Ronald Reull Tolkien, and without his genius, this and many other fan fics would not be in existence.

Please review! I love getting them-they keep me encouraged! J

Cirashala had reached the head of the path, still shaking after her encounter with Thorin. Her arm throbbed badly, and she was surprised that the furious dwarf king hadn't broken her arm, as tight as he had gripped it.

She dropped down by a tree, before staring at her bracer for a minute. The elves had given her leather bracers that matched the quiver, and she stared at the lacing up the inner arm. Slowly she untied it, before loosening it and slipping it off.

She pushed her sleeve up, exposing the angry raised handprint on her upper arm. It was quickly turning black, and swelling. Thorin's hand had been rather large, though his fingers weren't very long, a dwarf trait she had discovered watching the movie. The bruise easily covered most of her upper arm. She wished she had some ice, as her gaze drifted toward the snowcapped mountains. Perhaps in a few days she would, though it would not be as effective then.

She lowered her sleeve and put her bracer back on, tying it in place. She glanced up, and caught sight of that infernal arrow that had started the chaotic events of the past day. She glared at it through her slightly blurred eyes, her contacts protesting the intrusion of the stream and then the crying she had done on the way back up the path.

It is a miracle the contacts managed to stay in after my early morning "swim", she thought. She had a left eye that turned inward when she wasn't wearing them, and when she had both eyes straight the world was somewhat blurry. But, when it was turned she could see fairly well, though occasionally double, and it gave her a massive headache when she did. If she lost her contacts-well, she would fight tooth and nail to make sure she didn't, because the next possible chance for her to acquire some sort of spectacles wouldn't be until Laketown most likely. At least she had the kind she could sleep in.

She looked at the arrow, before looking back down the path. Not seeing the company coming up just yet, she glanced back at the stupid arrow. With her brow furrowing in determination, she got up. Thorin already thought she was worthless, and he had tried to kill her, she was sure of it. What would it matter if she fell in the stream again? It's not like she really had anything to live for now, what with her husband and children dead.

But, her mind once again went through the events that were supposed to happen. She sighed. She could not leave Middle-earth, even in death. She knew that she was being very selfish right now. They needed her to make things right, and she could not leave knowing that whatever happened to all these people who dwelt in Middle-earth was her fault.

Jaw setting in determination, she got up and looked at the arrow, now free of its fletching. She walked around the tree, before nearly laughing and feeling particularly stupid at the same time. She could see the tip of the arrow just poking out of the tree on the other side. Barring the arrow breaking, she could likely get it pushed through and be able to pull it out the other side!

She grabbed a large rock, and began pounding on the shaft on the side the arrow entered, trying to make sure she hit it head on so it wouldn't shatter. It only took a few pounds before the shaft gave way and moved forward suddenly.

She moved around to the other side, and carefully gripped the arrow just behind the head. She pulled hard, and fell backwards in an undignified heap as the arrow suddenly slid out of the tree. She looked at the arrow, and shook her head.

Confounded thing, she thought to herself. At least I can show that stubborn dwarf king that I CAN retrieve my arrows like a trained warrior!

It was almost as though her arm wished to remind her of what had happened, because it chose that moment to throb again. The slight twinkle that had appeared in her eyes vanished at the memory, and her face fell.

She stood up and made her way back over to the pine tree she had leaned against upon her returning to the path, laying the arrow on her lap and drawing her arms about herself. She shivered slightly, clothing still damp from the stream. Laying her arrow by her side, she drew her gray cloak around her, and drew her knees up to her chest, resting her hooded forehead on them.

Let the company come, she thought to herself sadly. I will show the king I retrieved the arrow, and then I will just keep going. I will not speak out of turn again, and will follow orders without question. Perhaps, if I do so, the king will not harm me again. I cannot be sent away. I cannot fail. I must not fail.

XXX

The company came up to where the path into the mountains continued, and Balin looked around worriedly.

"Cirashala? Where are you lassie?" he called, and several members of the company looked around in bewilderment. Kili caught sight of her quiver behind an oddly shaped rock, nestled within a bush at the base of a pine.

"Her quiver is over here behind this rock!" he said, and went to step on the rock to retrieve it. Balin's eyes widened.

"Er, um, Kili? I don't think that's a—" he got cut off as Kili's book stepped upon the front of the "rock" and a loud, feminine cry rang out.

Kili fell atop the now moving rock, smacking his chin on the top and eliciting a soft "Ow!" from the rock. His eyes widened comically, though he could not see anything but darkness in the startlingly soft and damp rock.

R-rocks don't speak! He thought frantically. Come to think of it, they don't usually move either.

He lifted his head from the unusually soft "rock"-only to be less than three inches away from wide, startled blue eyes and a very red and shocked face. Blushing to the roots of his hair as he realized just where his face had ended up, he cried out an apology before scampering up quickly. He moved backward so quickly that he all but ran Fili over, knocking the both of them down on the ground as several of the dwarves chuckled heartily.

"S-s-sorry, m-my lady," he sputtered out, face a deep crimson as he shut his eyes tight and wished for the ground to swallow him whole. He was breathing heavily, and completely mortified at the awkward situation. Fili grumbled underneath him, not having seen exactly why his brother had jumped backwards so suddenly, and getting very irritated that Kili's quiver was pressing down on his face.

"Kili, get off of me!" his muffled voice growled, pushing his startled brother off of him with a huff. He caught sight of Cirashala, who had just climbed out of the bushes. Her head was down, but he could still see the very red cheeks under the edge of her hood. Glancing at his brother, he put two and two together, and, try as he might, his shoulders began to shake with stifled laughter.

He reached down to help his brother up, biting his lip to keep from laughing. Kili glared at him, and Fili sobered a bit, though there was still a twinkle in his eye.

XXX

Thorin watched all of this with a stony expression on his face, not willing to show that he was slightly amused at poor Kili's plight as well. He shook his head, sighing. How was it possible that Kili, a dwarf of all things, mistook a gray cloak for a rock?

He had to admit, she had been pretty well concealed, and any passerby who was not actually trying to find her might have mistaken her for a rock at first glance. He briefly wondered if elven cloaks possessed some sort of magic in them to deceive the eye, when he heard a clatter at his feet.

Looking down, his eyes widened in astonishment. There, at his feet, was an elvish arrow with torn blue fletching. Dwalin looked over his shoulder, eyes widened as well, and several surprised heads looked at the tree it had been in, before turning toward the young girl. Kili gaped, blinking, and Fili smirked.

"Brother, I do believe you owe me three gold pieces," he said, turning toward a dumbfounded Kili.

Cirashala looked apprehensively at Thorin for a brief second, trembling slightly, and the dwarf king nodded. Lowering her head, she picked up the arrow, and placed it in her quiver, before stepping aside to let the company pass. Her arms were still around her middle, and her shoulders were hunched as she refused to meet the gaze of anyone in the company.

Thorin cleared his throat, before turning to the company.

"We have been far delayed enough," he said. "We need to move on." He gestured to Balin, who nodded.

The members of the company shuffled their packs on their shoulders, and Balin made his way to the head of the group. He glanced at the forlorn young woman as he passed her, eyes softening a bit, before giving Thorin a stern look, raising his eyebrow. Thorin glanced at the ground, before looking back at his friend, his look clearly stating, "Later." Balin nodded reluctantly, and moved past him, sighing.

The dwarves passed Cirashala, some giving her puzzled looks, a few shaking their heads in slight wonder. She kept her gaze at their boots, not daring to look at any of them for fear of insulting or provoking anyone, but not wishing to miss them leaving.

She counted the pairs of boots that passed her, noting the differences with each. Some were blunt toed, some had their toes curled up slightly, and most had fur trim. She startled a bit as a pair with two throwing axes on each stopped in front of her, and she looked up hesitantly, knowing who they belonged to.

Fili glanced at her face, and noticed the way her eyes refused to meet his. He could see her trembling, and followed her arm as she subconsciously reached up toward her upper right arm where Thorin had grabbed her.

"My lord, is there something you wish for me to do?" she asked hesitantly as he opened his mouth to speak. Fili's eyes widened as he heard the fearful twinge in her voice.

"N-no," he answered, his voice somewhat cheerful, but Cirashala could hear the concern behind it. "I just wanted to make sure you were all right after my graceful brother fell on you. He would apologize, but I believe he is still too embarrassed." He smiled and reached an arm out to reassure her, and froze as she recoiled from him with a small gasp, her eyes shutting as she shrank in on herself. He glanced at the retreating back of Thorin, and his eyes narrowed at his uncle as he realized just how badly he had frightened her.

"I-I'm fine, my lord," she muttered, and glanced up at the young prince briefly. "It was nothing." She smiled slightly, but Fili could tell it was forced, and she still had yet to meet his eyes.

"You don't have to be afraid of me," he said quietly. "I told you in the troll cave I wouldn't hurt you, and I keep my word." She swallowed, and nodded, but Fili could tell by the way she held herself defensively that she didn't believe him-or trust him.

"I'm fine, my lord. Please give Lord Kili my apologies," she mumbled quickly, the fear in her voice a bit more audible, and before Fili could stop her she rushed to the back of the line of dwarves without another word. The astonished dwarf stared after her, not believing what he had heard, when Kili came up alongside him. The brothers exchanged a puzzled glance, Kili's expression telling Fili that he had heard the entire exchange.

"Did she really call you 'my lord'?" Kili asked quietly. Fili nodded, his face grim.

"She is completely terrified of us," he whispered.

XXX

The company walked through the forest for the rest of the afternoon. Cirashala found herself falling behind several times as her legs grew very tired and the blisters she had thought she felt starting became very real. She would glance up, and speed up briefly until she caught up to them again many times. She was very grateful that they had been walking on a fairly flat part of the forest so far. She did not think she would be able to keep up once they actually began to climb the mountains themselves.

Her heart felt heavy, and several times she had to blink back tears as the long hours of silence brought back painful memories of her lost family. The silence would be occasionally broken as Bofur would make a joke, or Ori would converse with Bilbo about customs of the Shire, eager to write all that he could in his journal. The scribe had figured out a way to carry his quills and ink on his side so he could dip them and write as he walked.

Occasionally they would pause as Thorin, Balin and Dwalin would discuss which way to go next, and the company would take the opportunity to sit for a few minutes and enjoy the brief rest while they could. Some pulled out their pipes, and a few times Bofur would pull out his flute and play a quick tune.

Fili and Kili kept glancing at the girl with concern. She had not spoken a word since she had been so formal with Fili, and the brothers had noticed her slight limp, though she tried to hide it. Her left foot had worse blisters than her right, being just a tiny bit bigger than the opposite foot. Kili noticed during her breaks she would shift her weight from her left foot as she leaned against a tree, panting as she would recover her breath.

Bilbo also looked at her with concern, especially when she began to lag behind. He would subtly slow his pace ever so slightly when she did, and Ori would match him as they remained in conversation. Given that the two were in the middle of the company, the other members of the company would slow slightly as well, not quite realizing it. As soon as she caught back up, Bilbo would speed up again. Thankfully, no one seemed to notice until the sun was beginning to set.

"Oi, Bilbo!" Bofur called out from behind the hobbit. "Is it just me, or do you seem to be slowing down a bit?" Bilbo paused, trying very hard to not glance over Bofur's shoulder at Cirashala, who had fallen behind again.

"Sorry," Bilbo replied, the excuse still forming in his head. "I-I was just admiring the scenery. Don't have such large pine trees in the Shire, and this is my first adventure after all." He shrugged nonchalantly, trying to show that it was the most normal thing in the world. He breathed a silent sigh of relief as several members of the company rolled their eyes much in the same way that they had when he had mentioned that he had forgotten his handkerchief.

Having seen out of the corner of his eye that Cirashala had caught back up, he just smiled and continued on. Fili and Kili exchanged glances between the hobbit and the breathless girl, and looked at each other knowingly, having figured out Bilbo's reasoning. They had seen her lag behind as well, and had been torn between aiding her and provoking their uncle's wrath against her.

The two subtly moved back toward her, and she glanced up at them in fear as they passed her and began to walk behind her. Remembering her earlier discussion, the brothers signed to each other rapidly, deciding to appear as though they had moved to the back in order to hunt for supper. In actuality, Kili had been scanning the tree line all afternoon anyway looking for something to shoot for supper.

She risked a quick glance behind her, and found Kili glancing around the trees on his side and Fili glanced on the other side. She turned forward and began glancing back and forth at the trees as well. She didn't feel uneasy (other than having the princes behind her), but she wasn't a trained warrior. If they felt that something was off, she had better pay attention as well.

The brothers noticed her scanning the trees as well, and shared a quick smile. Their plan had worked, and they could make sure she kept up as well as hunt supper.

XXX

As the sun began to dip below the tree line behind them, Thorin called a halt. He began shouting orders, and the dwarves busily moved to set up camp.

Kili had managed to shoot a couple of pheasants, and had given them to Bombur to prepare for supper. Oin and Gloin began to prepare a stone rimmed pit for the fire. Thorin turned toward his nephews.

"Fili! Kili! Gather wood for the fire," he ordered, before turning toward Cirashala.

"Cirashala, help Bombur with supper," he ordered. She had paled when he looked at her, but hastened to Bombur's side quickly. Bombur handed her the dead bird, and she took it and stared at it for a moment, trembling a bit. Bombur turned toward her.

"Well, what are you waiting for, lass?" he asked. "The bird isn't going to pluck itself." Her eyes widened and she quickly grabbed the feathers and began to pull on them, brown gloved hands fisting into the feathers as she did so. The feathers didn't give well, and she tugged harder, before jumping with a slight yelp as they came free suddenly, showering above her head.

Her cheeks burned with shame as she hung her head, the loud, boisterous laughter of the company ringing all around her. She bit her lip as she blinked tears out of her eyes, hands fisting into the pheasant feathers once more. She began to rapidly tug, fistfuls of feathers flying around her as her eyes blurred.

"Lass easy now. You will tear the bird to shreds. Lass?" A hand on hers stopped her, and she looked up into the rotund dwarf's face, swallowing hard as she fought for composure. Bombur saw the tear filled eyes threatening to spill, and his eyes widened in realization.

"You've never plucked a bird before, have you?" he asked her quietly. She shook her head, squeezing her eyes shut.

"I-I'm- f-forgive me, my lord," she stuttered, her hands shaking with shame as a few tears escaped her scrunched eyelids. "I did not mean to ruin supper," she whispered. Bombur's eyes widened comically as the girl's shaking shoulders slumped in defeat. It took him a minute to speak, he was so shocked.

"L-land sakes, child, I am no lord!" he sputtered. "I'm just a mere toymaker!" His outburst caused the activity to pause around camp as thirteen dwarves and a hobbit stared at the young girl, their eyes wide and jaws agape as they froze in the positions they had been in when the toymaker had spoken.

Fili and Kili had just returned with the wood from the fire, and it clattered to the ground as they stared at the girl in astonishment. Oin and Gloin looked up from the nearly complete fire pit, while Ori had frozen with his quill still dripping onto his journal. Dori and Nori had been in an argument, their hands still raised from where they had been gesturing, and Bofur gazed at her from a log he had been sitting on, pipe still halfway to his mouth.

Bifur hadn't seemed to notice anything amiss, though he gazed at the pair curiously. And Thorin, Balin, and Dwalin had turned from their conversation off to the side, eyes wide. Balin held a map of Middle-earth in his hands, as they had been discussing tomorrow's route.

Bilbo was the first to break the silence, having been laying out his bedroll at the time of the outburst. The hobbit jumped up, with Bofur right behind and strode immediately to the pair.

"There's nothing to it, Miss Cirashala," the hobbit started.

"Aye, lass," Bofur replied, picking up the haphazardly plucked bird. "You have to pull the feathers the opposite way they are laying, like this." He showed her, pulling the feathers out easily as Bilbo looked over her shoulder, nodding in approval and partially shielding her from the stares of the company at the same time.

She watched for a moment, before taking the bird from Bofur's hands and attempting the task. She found it to be much easier than she had been doing before, and both the hobbit and two dwarves nodded in approval. Bilbo placed his hand on her shoulder reassuringly, smiling.

"Aye, just like that lass," Bombur replied, before he and Bofur shot the still staring company with glares and raised eyebrows.

As if a spell was broken, the company resumed their activities. Fili and Kili quickly gathered up the dropped pile of wood, Oin going to assist them as Gloin lit the tinder on fire in the pit. Ori looked down at his journal and gasped, before grabbing a blotting tissue and frantically trying to clean up the inky blotch that had pooled on the page.

Dori and Nori looked at each other in comical bewilderment, neither having remembered what their argument had been about.

Thorin looked back at Balin and Dwalin, the elder gracing him with a deep frown.

"Lord Bombur?" Balin said accusingly, and Thorin looked somewhat sheepish. "Thorin, this has gone on long enough. She is not only terrified of you, but of the entire company." Dwalin sighed.

"As much as I wish to disagree with my brother, he is right," Dwalin muttered. "She will be useless if we are attacked in this state."

"She will try to protect everyone, and end up protecting no one and getting herself killed," Balin agreed, and Thorin nodded. He sighed loudly, before glancing at the girl.

"After supper is distributed," he said, and the two lords nodded.